What is consciousness?

[Bob]

Light topic... 

Is it awareness of self?

Plants... Alive but not really thinking.
Bugs... Alive, not sure whether they're thinking or just acting out their programming.
Fish... Alive, but there. They must be thinking on some level.  I'm not around them enough.
Animals and birds... Alive, thinking, capable of emotion.
Human... Alive, conscious, etc. 

I'm wondering where the line is in there.  I'm not sure if bugs are really aware of themselves.  They don't have much space for enough brainpower.

[Bob]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness

[pianoplayjl]

Personally I though consciousness was the state where you were aware of yourself and you know what you are doing.

[Bob]

I found similar ideas on wikipedia.  Awareness of self, purposeful movement, adapting/learning, planning/using the best strategy to meet your goal.

Although it sounds like all of those things could still be accomplished by something that stills isn't really conscious.

*Bob wonders if he himself is conscious or just following processes.*

[ted]

The clearest, and certainly the most original ideas I have ever read on it are those of Douglas Hofstadter in "I am a Strange Loop". The biggest mystery is why it should exist at all. As Bob implicitly asks, why do certain pockets of matter (brains) generate this phenomenon ? Why hasn't everything just evolved and ground on in a completely insensate condition ?
My personal guess, purely speculative, is that perhaps we have yet to develop the abstractions necessary to model it, and that these will turn out to be counter-intuitive in much the same way as much of modern physics and mathematics has turned out to be. In other words, the old ways of thinking about it are so deeply ingrained through evolution and in our own lives throughout childhood that something amounting to a quantum change in thought will be required to understand it.

[Derek]

Hmm, perhaps we will be able to model it, but will that give us an understanding of it any better than an equation can really tell us "what" an electron actually is (for example)? I don't think so. I don't think we'll be able to understand how our minds work any better than a sentient computer program could figure out that it is actually running on a silicon chip (unless it figures out how to look that up on wikipedia).

[keyboardclass]

I shouldn't worry.  It's what happens below the level of consciousness that needs attending to.

[flyinfingers]

Couldn't resist this topic because today I was just thinking about the car crash I had going 70 MPH back on March 13 (lucky day) 2010.  Lots of stress from homebuilding -- don't ever do it if you're Type A!
So to me consciousness is the state I was in before I crashed the car with the cruise control on at 70 MPH at the top of Snoqualmie Pass because I fell asleep!  Crashed into the concrete barrier separating the highway, hubby asleep, Keno, my doggie, was in her crate, and miraculously (angels were with us) we all came out perfect except Keno was scared and I had a concussion.  Ambulance came -- over my objection -- long ride to town -- still kind of out of it.  Told my hubby to grab some stuff for overnight because we were at the top of a mountain (well, roadwise), so he grabs HIS overnight bag leaving mine in the smashed up rental car!  MEN!